County Championship: Scores and daily round-ups as champions Essex win again
Scores and round-up from day four of the penultimate round of Specsavers County Championship games.
County Championship scores (September 19-22)
Division One
- Headingley: Yorkshire (296 & 178-8) beat Warwickshire (219 & 251) by 2 wickets
- The Oval: Surrey (433 & 146-4) beat Somerset (269 & 306) by 6 wickets
- Lord's: Middlesex (233 & 152) beat Lancashire (165 & 184) by 36 runs
- Ageas Bowl: Essex (76 & 362) beat Hampshire (254 & 76) by 108 runs
Division Two
- County Ground: Nottinghamshire (151 & 189) lost to Northamptonshire (194 & 270-9) by 124 runs
- The SWALEC: Gloucestershire (399-8) drew with Glamorgan (442 & 353-3)
- The Riverside: Durham (385 & 131) lost to Sussex (346 & 302) by 132 runs
- Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Kent - Match abandoned without a ball bowled
Friday round-up
County champions Essex left Hampshire looking over their shoulders as Sam Cook claimed his maiden first-class five-wicket haul in an extraordinary 108-run victory at the Ageas Bowl.
The visitors looked to be heading for their first defeat of the season when they were asked to follow-on after being rattled out for 76 in the first innings.
However, 20-year-old fast bowler Cook blasted through Hampshire's top order to end with figures of five for 18 as the relegation-threatened home side were bowled out for 76 - their lowest total since 1984.
Hampshire had been set 185 runs to win after Neil Wagner and James Foster's 82-run partnership for the eighth Essex wicket. Foster made 47 while Wagner contributed 44 as the Division One champions made 362 second time around.
Hampshire's pursuit started poorly as Joe Weatherley was pinned lbw by Cook in his first over.
Tom Alsop edged Jamie Porter behind before Cook deceived Jimmy Adams and produced a wicked in-swinger to bowl George Bailey.
Sean Ervine fell lbw to Porter and James Vince was leg-before to the rampant Cook.
Off-spinner Simon Harmer bowled Liam Dawson with his first delivery and Wagner then grabbed the wickets of Gareth Berg and Kyle Abbott.
Cook, fittingly, wrapped things up when Fidel Edwards edged behind.
Yorkshire took a giant step towards safety as they claimed a thrilling win over already-relegated Warwickshire at Headingley.
Steven Patterson and Matt Fisher shared a 78-run stand for the eighth wicket to secure a two-wicket victory after Bears off-spinner Jeetan Patel had taken six for 50 to limit the hosts to 96 for seven in pursuit of 175.
Somerset go into the final week occupying the second relegation spot after a six-wicket defeat to Surrey.
Kumar Sangakkara made 35 on his final innings at the Kia Oval before an unbeaten 42 from Ben Foakes guided Surrey to the 143 they needed for victory.
In Division Two, Northamptonshire completed an impressive 124-run win over Nottinghamshire at Wantage Road to take the race for promotion into the final week.
Chasing 314 to confirm their promotion, Notts were instead blown away for 189 before lunch.
It was Northants' first County Championship victory over Notts since 2002 and moves them to within 13 points of their opponents going into the final week of the season, with Worcestershire six clear at the top of the table.
That Northants have a chance of promotion is largely thanks to a virtuoso performance from Rory Kleinveldt, who set the hosts on their way by removing both overnight batsmen and finished with career-best match figures of 13 for 98.
Sussex secured their seventh Championship win of the season with a 132-run victory against Durham at Chester-le-Street, with Chris Jordan taking three wickets, while Nick Selman made a career-best 142 not out as Glamorgan and Gloucestershire played out a draw at Cardiff.
Kent and Derbyshire's frustrations continued at Chesterfield, where their match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Thursday round-up
Somerset were again second best to Surrey at the Kia Oval to dent their hopes of avoiding relegation from Division One of the Specsavers County Championship.
Having conceded a first-innings deficit of 164, Somerset still trailed by 51 at 113 for four in their second innings when bad light and rain brought an early close with no play after tea.
Edward Byrom made 39 before being bowled by Gareth Batty, with Stuart Meaker trapping both George Bartlett (28) and James Hildreth (11) lbw.
Somerset will be hoping already-relegated Warwickshire can beat fellow strugglers Yorkshire, who made inroads into their victory target of 175 in a low-scoring clash at Headingley.
Yorkshire need 119 more to win after closing on 56 for three, with Steven Patterson earlier taking four for 46 - including the wickets of former England players Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott - as the visitors were bowled out for 251.
Lancashire's defeat to Middlesex was compounded by an injury to Ashes hopeful Haseeb Hameed, who suffered a fractured finger at Lord's.
The opener retired hurt after being struck on the glove by James Harris and although he returned to bat in a vain attempt to stave off defeat, England will be anxiously waiting for updates.
Hameed was left unbeaten as Steven Finn, himself on the fringes of the England selection picture, took eight for 79 to bowl Middlesex to a 36-run win which gives their top-flight survival hopes a huge boost.
Fidel Edwards made the most of what little play was available on a rain-affected third day between Hampshire and champions Essex at the Ageas Bowl.
Edwards took two for 15 in six overs - including the wicket of centurion Dan Lawrence (101) - to leave Essex on 247 for five in their second innings, a lead of 69.
Rain also meant that just 25.3 overs were possible on day three at Wantage Road as little progress was made in the key Division Two meeting between Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.
Notts advanced to 107 for three, chasing 314 against their promotion rivals, with the match perfectly poised for the final day. Victory for Nottinghamshire would secure their return to the top flight.
Phil Salt gave his Sussex side the chance of a final-day victory against Durham at Chester-le-Street with a classy innings of 72.
The 21-year-old top scored as Sussex totalled 302 in their second innings, setting Durham a victory target of 264. The home side were five without loss from three of the scheduled nine overs when bad light intervened.
A draw looks on the cards at Cardiff after Benny Howell and James Bracey put on a record partnership for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan.
Howell and Bracey claimed career-best scores of 163 and 156 respectively in a 240-run partnership for the second wicket as the visitors reached 399 for eight before declaring.
Glamorgan, who had made 442 in their first innings, ended the third day with a lead of 102 on 63 for one.
Derbyshire's final home game of the season looks destined to end in a complete wash-out after no play was possible for the third day running in the Division Two match against Kent at Chesterfield.
Wednesday round-up
Kyle Abbott helped skittle champions Essex for 76 in the first innings of their Specsavers County Championship match at Division One rivals Hampshire.
South African fast bowler Abbott ended with six for 20 as Essex collapsed to their lowest score of the season before Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara led a fightback.
Essex, who had resumed the second day on 33 for five chasing Hampshire's first-innings total on 254, reached 208 for three after following on to lead by 30 runs thanks to Lawrence (72 not out) and Bopara (52no).
Kumar Sangakkara's eighth Championship hundred of a remarkable final season for Surrey left relegation-threatened Somerset in trouble.
At stumps Surrey were 328 for six, a first-innings lead of 69, and while half-centuries from England opener Mark Stoneman and 19-year-old Ollie Pope were vital contributions to the Surrey cause, the day was again dominated by the remarkable Sri Lankan.
He has now scored a century against every First Division county except Hampshire this season, finishing unbeaten on 119 and raising his aggregate to 1,369 runs in just 13 innings, with twice as many hundreds as any other batsman in the top flight.
Yorkshire's match with already-relegated Warwickshire is in the balance at Headingley, where the home side are fighting to avoid the drop.
After bowling the visitors out for 219 on day one and reaching the close at 62 for one, Yorkshire's passage to a lead of 77 was far from simple. Warwickshire then reached the close at 49 for one from 16 overs, a deficit of 28.
Fellow relegation battlers Middlesex lead second-placed Lancashire by 174 runs at Lord's, although the visitors have nine second-innings wickets intact.
After 15 wickets had fallen on the opening day, Lancashire resumed on 113 for five and were all out for 165 before restricting Middlesex to 152 in their second innings, with Tom Bailey taking five for 44.
Rory Kleinveldt and Richard Levi combined to put Northamptonshire on course for victory against Nottinghamshire in a game they have to win to keep their Division Two promotion hopes alive.
Levi's sparkling second-innings 115 helped Northamptonshire post 270 in their second innings and set the visitors 314 to win before Kleinveldt extended his haul to 11 wickets in the match as the visitors closed day two on 33 for two.
Ollie Robinson underlined his all-round qualities to leave Sussex's match against Durham in the balance.
On the Chester-le-Street ground where he made a century on debut two years ago, Robinson took three wickets with his usual seam and one with off-spin as Graham Clark's unbeaten 73 carried Durham to 321 for six, 25 runs behind.
Robinson revived Sussex, who had set a first-innings target of 346, by removing both Tom Latham and Cameron Steel after they had batted through the day's first 44 overs to take their second-wicket stand to 163.
Gloucestershire reached 161 for one in Cardiff thanks to Benny Howell's unbeaten 96, in reply to Glamorgan's first-innings total of 442, which was built on Kiran Carlson's superb 191.
There was no play in Derbyshire's game against Kent for the second day running due to a wet outfield at Chesterfield.
Tuesday round-up
Newly-crowned champions Essex displayed a hangover in their penultimate match of the Specsavers County Championship Division One season as they were reduced to 33 for five against Hampshire.
Essex secured their first title in 25 years last week and were aiming to end the season unbeaten but Hampshire, who had earlier been dismissed for 254, had other ideas as Fidel Edwards and Kyle Abbott took two wickets apiece.
There was no place in the Essex line-up for former England skipper Alastair Cook despite his availability, though in-form seamer Jamie Porter was once again among the wickets with figures of four for 53.
Middlesex started this round of fixtures in the bottom two and they fought back to enhance their survival prospects against Lancashire as 15 wickets fell on day one at Lord's, where Haseeb Hameed once again failed to make an impression.
Last year's champions opted to bat first and were wobbling at 89 for seven before half-centuries from numbers eight and nine Toby Roland-Jones (53) and Ollie Rayner (52 not out) got them to 233 all out.
Roland-Jones, who like Hameed will come into consideration for an Ashes spot with England this winter, and Tim Murtagh then claimed two wickets apiece as Lancs closed on 113 for five, 120 behind.
The England selectors will be keeping a keen eye on Hameed in Lancashire's final two fixtures given the issues Cook's other opening Test partners have encountered in the international set-up, but after recording two half-centuries earlier this month following an otherwise lean summer, he was dismissed for just three.
Earlier Tom Bailey had taken five for 54 for the Red Rose while Ryan McLaren weighed in with four for 63.
Surrey's Rikki Clarke claimed five wickets in 34 balls en route to career-best figures of seven for 55 but Somerset still reached 269 thanks to a defiant 86 from Steven Davies and Marcus Trescothick's 65.
In reply, Surrey were 42 without loss as England's Mark Stoneman (21 not out) looked to follow up last week's century on his domestic return.
Jeetan Patel (100) and Ian Bell (51) accounted for 151 of already-relegated Warwickshire's 219 as Yorkshire's Matthew Fisher claimed a five-for at Headingley.
The White Rose, themselves fighting to stay up, then reached 62 for one by stumps.
In Division Two, there was little to separate promotion rivals Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire as Notts made 80 for five in response to their hosts' 194, with Luke Wood and Rory Kleinveldt taking four wickets each for their respective sides.
Glamorgan's number four Kiran Carlson posted a career-best 137 not out as they accumulated 342 for seven against Gloucestershire, while Sussex skipper Luke Wells was another centurion in their meeting with Durham.
Wells made 122 and Stiaan van Zyl contributed 92 in Sussex's 346 all out, with Durham eight for one in response.
Elsewhere, no play was possible between Derbyshire and Kent at Chesterfield.